Moscow, 19 August 1996 (RFE/RL) -- An International Monetary Fund review team is reassured that Russian tax collections are back on track, so the July drawing of its long-term loan should be cleared within about a week, says IMF Moscow representative Thomas Wolf. The team is returning to Washington with a recommendation to the fund's board that it approve release of the nearly $300 million traunch, which had been delayed due to concerns over tax collections that were running at less than 60 percent of projections earlier in the year.
Russian Finance Minister Alexander Livshits told a news conference that the IMF team and Russian officials "have just about exhausted the list of problems."
The three-year, $10.1 billion IMF loan to Russia requires monthly reviews to assure that Moscow is meeting the targets for stabilization and reform agreed to in the loan package. Moscow has already fulfilled its inflation forecasts for the entire year, bringing the monthly rate down to 0.7 percent in July.
The next big goal is to get the 1997 budget through the Duma, said Livshits. .
Russian Finance Minister Alexander Livshits told a news conference that the IMF team and Russian officials "have just about exhausted the list of problems."
The three-year, $10.1 billion IMF loan to Russia requires monthly reviews to assure that Moscow is meeting the targets for stabilization and reform agreed to in the loan package. Moscow has already fulfilled its inflation forecasts for the entire year, bringing the monthly rate down to 0.7 percent in July.
The next big goal is to get the 1997 budget through the Duma, said Livshits. .